What Was Wrong With Jonah?

You've probably read the story of Jonah. If you went to Sunday School as a kid you probably read about him and the whale. The classic moral of the story is that Jonah disobeyed God and so God threw him into the sea, a fish swallowed him and he repented of his disobedience. I think that's not the real heart of the story.

Did Jonah reject God? No. When the men on the ship asked Jonah who he was he replied, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven." (1:9). Was Jonah running away from God? No. In the fish he cried out to God, knowing that He was there too. Then was God's ultimate purpose in Jonah to simply bully him into submission? I don't think so.

I think that what is really being called into question here is not Jonah's obedience but his attitude towards God's mercy.

When Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed God's judgment against sin, the people repented - and that made Jonah mad. He said, "O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew you that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster." (4:2)

Jonah simply didn't want God's mercy to be shown to these people. Perhaps it was because of the trouble Assyria had caused Israel. What ever the reason, Jonah did not want God's love extended to them.

How about you? Do you know people who have hurt you - are hurting you? Do you know people who have done things that deserve a slow painful death (or at least a slow painful embarrassment)?

My encouragement to you is to not withhold God's mercy from them either. Shower them with love, cover them in prayers. As Jesus said, bless instead of curse. God may be more merciful than we are, but that's because He can change the cold heart into one that is warm towards Him and His gift of life.

Pastor Tom

Sowing and Reaping

OK - I know its been a while since I've posted. Things have been really busy lately (and will continue to be for the next month). But I couldn't resist making a small comment about something I read today in Hosea.

Hosea 8:6 "...The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. 7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."

The king of Israel, Jeroboam, didn't want his people going to worship Yahweh in Jerusalem or they might heal the civil war between the southern and northern tribes. So he created calves for them to worship instead.

It might have seemed like a small thing at the time, a political expedience, perhaps. But it turned into a giant thing that sucked all those tribes away from a relationship with God and into captivity.

For us, giving into a sin for expedience might seem small - a little lie here, a little dalliance there - but sowing to the wind reaps a whirlwind that you cannot control.

My word of encouragement today is when you are faced with a choice, obey God with your whole heart, or give into temptation (even a little one) that you pray in this verse:

1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Pastor Tom

What's God Telling You?

At times when we read God's Word, something sticks out to us as if God is really wanting us to pay attention and follow what He's saying. But when that happens, do we look around to see if God is telling anyone else to do that?

Maybe its to stop doing something we've been doing that we realize does not reflect the glory of God. Or perhaps it is to start doing something, like worship, that we haven't really put our heart into.

But do we base whether we do it on whether those around us are or are not?

Today here is a reminder from the life of the prophet Ezekiel, who was sent to Babylon with a difficult task, talk to Israelis whom God was disciplining for not listening to him for many years.

Ezekiel 2:7 And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. 8 But you, son of man, hear what I say to you."

Don't use other's obedience or lack of it as an excuse not to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as you read his Word. It's just between you and Him!

Pastor Tom

Does God Like To Hurt People?

We read sometimes in the Bible about the wrath of God. We hear in the prophets how God is going to punish this nation and that. We see in the book of the Revelation the lake of fire and all the judgment of God being poured out.

We get the impression that God is angry and that in anger he strikes out against us - like he's just waiting to throw lightning bolts down on us puny humans as soon as we make one tiny little mistake.

If you have had that opinion, I want to share with you a small verse in a small book called Lamentations. You don't often hear verses from this book, penned by Jeremiah as he saw the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army. This happened because Israel decided they didn't want to remain faithful to their husband, Yahweh. I admit, its not a very "happy" book - thus the name Lamentations.

So check out this verse: 3:31 For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men."

God is angry at evil, and he'll do anything to get the evil out of us, even afflict us and bring us into times of difficulty, in order to shower us with his love and his life. God would go so far as to take his own anger against evil upon himself so that you never have to experience it.

He did it on a cross.

Pastor Tom

3:31 For the Lord will

Temporary Satisfaction

Jeremiah 44 has one of the clearest declarations of why Israel had gone after other Gods.

17But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. 18But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine." 19And the women said, "When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"

Serving other gods is a very practical thing. They thought they needed something and they went after the source that gave it to them.

We do that today as well. We go after the god of money in order to put food on the table. We serve the god of lust in order to find intimacy that we need.

But it's a little like drinking salt water when you are thirsty. It slacks the thirst temporarily while killing the body permanently.

Our problem is one of perspective. We think that all there is is what is around us in our daily struggle. In reality there is a much bigger reality out there. It would be like making sure we avoid a small bush on fire and ignore the entire forest ablaze around us.

A faithful relationship with Yahweh might have brought discipline and trial with it, but that temporary difficulty would result in an eternal wealth beyond imagination. We want to satisfy our immediate desires without taking into consideration a bigger need, to be clean from evil. Only God offers that through Jesus Christ, and as he makes us into his image, sometimes he allows difficulty.

But know this, God will always take care of his own. Belonging to him might mean temporary need, but eternal satisfaction. Something to think about.

Pastor Tom

Your Life Shines

There's an interesting story in Jeremiah 35 about a small group of people that God tells Jeremiah to invite to a wine tasting.

2 "Go to the house of the Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers; then offer them wine to drink."

Okay, so no big deal you say. Well, it turns out the Rechabites had taken a vow of sobriety for all of their generations. So now God tells Jeremiah to bring them into the temple and offer them something they have never had before.

Now, if you are a Rechabite, what are you thinking? Jeremiah never says "God tells you to drink." And they don't. They honor the conviction their forefather had.

God knew they wouldn't touch a drop and in verse 14 "The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to your persistently, but you have not listened to me."

So all those years that the Rechabites listened to their father and kept away from alcohol, was for an object lesson against a rebellious Israel who would not listen to their Father and keep away from idols.

Perhaps you have been going along in your life as a follower of Jesus. He has been working on your life, working his life into yours. You have found yourself changing as you enjoy a wonderful relationship with him. You don't do the things you used to. You think differently and act differently. But that seems to be about it. Maybe sometimes you wonder if there is any use to your life - any way God can actually use you.

Take a lesson from the Rechabites. They didn't know why they kept dry for generations. But God had a great use for their sobriety and he will have a great use for your life as well. Keep close to him and watch - you never know when that "wine tasting" invitation might come your way.

Pastor Tom

Hope in Despair

There's a great verse in Jeremiah 29 that a lot of people have memorized.

11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

We recite this verse in times of difficulty, when things are just going south for us. And that's a good thing, for it is a wonderful promise from God.

But I thought it would be instructive to put a little context around when God said this through the prophet Jeremiah. It's in a letter Jeremiah sent to the exiles that God had sent from Israel to Babylon. He was trying to tell them to set down roots in Babylon, have kids, open businesses, and even pray for the welfare of the cities they were in.

The people were having a hard time doing that in part because other "prophets" told them that God would break the back of Babylon and return them to the land. In fact wasn't true at all. God was disciplining the people for their abandoning their relationship with him. At one point he calls their wound "incurable."

30:11 "I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished."

God is telling his people to let the discipline happen and learn that only by relying on God can their "wound" be healed.

17 "For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord."

So when you find yourself in a tough jam, don't fight it, but ask God to reveal what he is doing in the situation, or at least just trust that he is working, that in him, and through a relationship with him, you can find hope and a future and healing.

Pastor Tom

My Heart is Good(?)

I don't know about you but I've heard this statement a lot lately: "inside, man is basically good." It's a nice sentiment. I'd like to believe it, actually. I don't like thinking badly about other people. I want to trust that others will have my best interest at heart and if given a choice between harm and good, we will choose good.

I wish it were so, but sadly, it's not. The trouble is, our own hearts fool us into believing it is so. Recent studies of the human mind show that it is a more powerful thing than we ever imagined. The mind actually is self justifying. When you do something, your own thoughts will convince you that it was the right thing to do. That's how people like Adolf Hitler could do the things he did and stay functioning.

Jeremiah the prophet knew this a long time ago. He wrote:

17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?"

Thanks to a decision made by Adam, we have all been infected with a sickness called disobedience. It separated us from God and began to spread as a cancer throughout our race.

The biggest problem is we don't know we are sick because our minds are "deceitful above all things."

How do we learn about the truth of our hearts? We go to an outside objective source. That's God, who created us. That's God's word, which he shared then verified through the prophets. That word tells us we are sick, and it gives the antidote: Jesus Christ - God Himself.

God becomes the cure for our sickness by taking on our sickness and killing it. Isn't that cool!?

Pastor Tom

What Are Your Proud Of?

When I was a kid I was really proud of my Matchbox(r) car collection. I would bring out my latest little metal car to show off to my friends. We think that when we grow up we are beyond this type of thing, but I don't think so anymore.

When we are all grown up we show off different things. Perhaps we have lost a lot of weight and are now sporting big muscles, or the ability to run 26 miles. We know we can out perform almost anyone we know and it makes us feel superior.

Perhaps we have several letters after our name from advanced degrees. We know that in most cases we are the smartest person in the room and we have to purposefully lower our vocabulary for most people to understand. When we need to we can win almost any argument by the shear force of our intellect.

Or maybe we've done really well in the stock market (okay, maybe not a good example right now). We have this great ability to make money and we know that we're probably the richest person we hang out with (in fact, we're kind of careful to hang out with people who are just slightly less well off than we are). We have the toys to prove it - no longer Matchbox cars, but real ones that are loud and red and fast. We show them off whenever we get the chance.

I just wanted to bring to our attention a well known verse out of Jeremiah 9.

9:23 Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."

Ouch! What's something to be proud of? That we know God - and understand the character of God - a character that leads to steadfast love (when we don't deserve it), justice (to a people who don't deserve it), and righteousness (given to people who can't earn it).

So instead of showing off your Matchbox car, show off your God and His great love. Who's the greatest person in the room then?

Pastor Tom

I Can't Forget

Have you ever done something that you just can't wipe from your memory? Maybe you got mad and said some things that devastated someone else's life. Perhaps you did something terrible to yourself or someone else and no matter how much you come before God and ask forgiveness again and again, you just can't forget it - and it plagues you.

You feel as if you are not worthy to be a Christian and worry about seeing those people you hurt in heaven and it weighs on you so much that it ruins your relationship with God.

If that, or something like it, has happened to you, I have good news. Here in this fallen world we deal with the consequences of our actions. But one day, God will "wipe away every tear" as it says in the book of the Revelation. God has dealt with our sins and separated them "as far as the east is from the west."

But even more than that, read Isaiah 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create."

Take a deep breath and realize that God not only made things right through Jesus, he will wipe them from existence in the new creation. Move ahead in your relationship based on that assumption. Live in that freedom. It's not freedom to continue to do bad, it's freedom to live an extravagant love relationship with God now and let his life flow through your life to others, showing them the same forgiveness and love God shows you.

I wonder too if we might not start to employ this same grace in our relationships with others. What would life be like if we extended not only forgiveness to those that hurt us, but also forgetfulness of the whole affair?

Pastor Tom

Sliding Back

Do you ever find yourself not walking with God like you once did? You find excuses for not going to church because you don't want to confront the things you've been thinking and doing - and when you are worshiping or studying God's Word it seems like very song and every verse pricks your conscience.

Then you find yourself not praying and avoiding talking to God altogether. You don't feel the pricking of the conscience so much so you find it easier to do things you would never even think of doing.

Somewhere in the recesses of your mind you are aware of what you doing. It's called "backsliding." Eventually you are powerless to stop and even though your heart cries out to you and God finds ways to get through you feel caught in a trap and consider that God cannot or will not love you anymore.

Now read what God says to the backslider in Isaiah 57:18 "I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, to the far and to the near," says the Lord, "and I will heal him."

Once you have trusted and relied on Jesus as your Savior, God is always near. It is as if you turned your back on him and he seems an infinity away and you feel as if it is God who has turned his back on you.

In fact, God "sees" what you have done - and loves you anyway. God knows the awful things you do - and forgives you anyway. That's how powerful grace is. That's how awesome the free gift of salvation is.

And not only that, God promises to heal you and give you peace.

So today - no matter how far away you feel, turn around and see the loving arms of God ready to enfold you and love you. He's been waiting, you know.

Pastor Tom

Time Limit

I'm usually a real "grace" guy. I emphasize God's grace - not giving us what we deserve but giving us what God deserves. God's grace is wonderful. You can't earn, nor maintain, nor obtain forgiveness and renewed fellowship with God.

Among the wonderful collection of verses in Isaiah chapters 51-55, a more sobering verse popped out at me.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

It's the desire of God to save everyone, but that salvation is a limited time offer. There will come a day when the offer expires. Why? Because God is going to redo this earth, renovate it and make it wonderful. He's got plans for us, things for us to do, missions for us to go on - all with redeemed bodies and minds. It'll be grand. At that point, all those who don't want anything to do with God will be shuffled off to a place by themselves.

So just a gentle reminder. If you have been considering the claims of Jesus Christ, wondering if perhaps what he said and did is true, don't put off that decision. Seek the Lord today. Read about what Jesus said and did - then trust and rely on him. I promise you will never be sorry. Never!

Pastor Tom

After the Discipline

Just a little trivia if you've read this blog before - this is my 301st post - and boy are my fingers tired!

For today we are back in Isaiah - chapter 49 this time.

13 "Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted."

Sounds really cool, huh? But read the next verse:

14 "But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me."

This section of Isaiah is about the restoration of Israel. The nation had blown it and God disciplined them. 48 10 "I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake I do it."

Does it ever happen to you that when you blow it and you know God is not pleased and disciplines you - that even when He declares forgiveness you can't accept it?

Like a little child who disobeys, after they receive the discipline the best thing to do is get a great big hug from mom or dad. Running away does not bring about the final important step of the discipline - the restoration of relationship.

We fall into this state of mind where because we have erred and gotten caught that God cannot love us and proves it by his discipline. In fact, we should rejoice over the discipline because God is refining us to become more like Him.

So next time you receive the discipline of the Lord, come out the other end and run into your Father's arms. Here's how he feels about you:

49: 15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will never forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

Think about that engraving today - who has it and where did He get it?

Pastor Tom

Through the Flood and Fire

We all go through difficulties at times. Right now we all face a lot of uncertainty with the economy - will I have a job, will I have enough money to pay the rent or put food on the table? Every day brings with it some new crisis.

I just wanted to share some words of encouragement from the prophet Isaiah, speaking for God.

Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel your God."

Today if you feel like your life is out of control and you are swept away by circumstances beyond your ability to change, just know that if you cling to Jesus, he is clinging to you and will not allow you to go under.

Or if you are under the fires of trial and feel like life all around you is nothing but hurt and pain. If you look to Jesus, he will heal you and, like the three Hebrew men in Daniel, you may have to go through the fiery furnace, but when you come out you will not even have the smell of smoke on you.

There are a lot of other cool verses in chapters 43 and 44 - take a look, and be blessed!

Pastor Tom

Just Waiting

Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
ESV

Isn't that an awesome series of verses? I just couldn't help put these out there for us to read and meditate on.

For today's post I want to focus on just a small portion of what Isaiah said. We love verse 31 because we "mount up with wings" "run and not be weary" "walk and not faint." But how does that happen? Is it that we have some great faith that carries us along? Is it that we are filled somehow with supernatural strength? We want the "mount up" part but what does that mean?

Look at the verb at the beginning of the verse: "wait." Hold on. When things are happening we need to be people of action. This verb seems to suggest inaction. Waiting is something you do until something happens. How can that bring us "wings of eagles"?

It's an interesting word. In Hebrew the word qavah means "to bind together" as a rope is twisted together. So almost more than "wait" like we think of, it's the idea of "they who are bound to the Lord". What does that mean? It means that only as God moves, you move. And you do so in concert with his character, his desires, his will - not your own.

We like to think that the wings and strength are for us to do what we think we need to in order to survive. In reality, as we are bound up in the Lord we are passengers, actively pulling on our seat belts and holding on to Him for dear life as he takes us where he wants to.

Go back to the beginning of the section - it is God's strength that he gives us. Stay close to him, look for his way, not your own. It might be a scary ride, but if you feel weak, seek him to "renew" your strength. Sometimes not doing anything but holding on is all we need to do.

Pastor Tom

Fools for Christ

I came across this wonderful passage in Isaiah 35. It may be familiar to you because part of it is a worship song.

It's Isaiah 35:10 - but what struck me was a couple of verses prior to that, in verse 8. Isaiah is talking about a road to Zion, to God. Today we know that that way is Jesus Christ. Isaiah calls it "the Way of Holiness" in the beginning of the verse. Now listen to the rest:

"...the unclean hall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk the way; even if they are fools they shall not go astray..."

You walk on this way when you listen to and then rely and trust in the goodness of Jesus Christ, not your own. In our father Adam we walked away from God. In our new father Jesus, all the bad we deserve He got, and all the good He deserves we got.

But I really like that last phrase. Sometimes I really feel like a fool. I want to live this new life Jesus has given to me but I blow it. Sometimes it seems I walk more like Adam than Jesus. But slowly God is changing me from the inside out. Deep down I really am a good person, thanks to Jesus in me. But when I am a fool, this verse (and many others) give me the security to know that God has me on His road and I will not fall off of it.

God is more powerful than me. He holds me in His hands. He is guiding me to Him. I'm so glad God doesn't need a GPS to keep me on the road of holiness.

Pastor Tom

Perfect Peace

I've been super busy lately (I know I keep saying that) so I haven't been able to blog much - but as I was reading Isaiah 26 this morning I just had to comment on this one verse. In fact, read Isaiah 26-30 - there are so many incredible gems there it isn't funny.

So here is one of my favorite verses:

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock."

Isn't that a wonderful verse? How many times in our daily lives do we find ourselves uptight, anxious, and at anything but perfect peace? So the first lesson is, "stay" your mind on the Lord. What does that mean? I think it means for us what Paul said in Colossians 3:2-4:

"2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Instead of focusing on all the things that are causing you stress, concentrate on all the ways God is bringing about life in you through the presence of Jesus Christ in your heart. You are dead to the anxiety because you are alive to the Lord.

"Perfect peace" in the Hebrew is literally "shalom shalom". Not just peace, but real peace. Peace, as Paul says "surpasses all understanding" (Phil 4:7), peace that "guards" your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

When it says to "stay" your mind on the Lord it means to "lean" on him. Don't lean on your own ability to comprehend or control that which causes a lack of peace, lean on the Lord through Jesus Christ who will not only bring you through the storm but is with you to calm your hearts in the storm by showing you his glory (his character) being worked in you.

Pastor Tom

Cherubim & Seraphim

Pardons for not posting for a while. I've been really busy with two book projects and my daughter's wedding. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things and get back to regularly posting on this blog.

Today I just wanted to mention the cherubim. When we think about cherubs what comes to mind? It's those cute, pudgy little baby-like creatures with wings that shoot cute arrows at Valentines Day, right?

We couldn't be more wrong. The cherubim as described in 1 Kings 7 are huge, standing over the ark of the covenant like giant lions, ready to scarf up anyone or anything that attempts to enter the presence of God.

Cherubs stood at the gate to the Garden of Eden to keep Adam and Eve from re-entering the garden and eating from the tree of life while in a sinful state.

Another angelic creature, the seraphim appear in Isaiah 6 when Isaiah has a vision of the throne room of God. It says 2 "Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

These powerful angelic beings are fiercely loyal to the King of Kings, and spend their time in incredible worship and praise. They do this because they know what God is really like. It just makes me pause to think, how fiercely loyal are we to our God, Jesus Christ? When people revile him, do we remain silent? It's not that God needs defending, but if the cherubim can do it, why not us?

And then worship - do we "call to another" our praise of God? Do we gather together as the body of Christ and really fiercely worship God? The seraphim do it because they know God. Hebrews 10 tells us to boldly come into the presence of God through the curtain, the flesh of Jesus Christ. When we do, do we fall down and worship?

Pastor Tom

Jesus Pictures from Esther

I love it how God paints little pictures of what He's doing throughout the Old Testament. There are two I saw in Esther 1-5 that I think are worth noting.

If you remember the story, Esther is an orphan who lives with her uncle in Babylon during the captivity. She's chosen to be the king's new queen. One of the king's main advisers, Haman, wanted everyone to bow down to him. Esther's uncle Mordecai wouldn't do it and so Haman hated him.

In chapter 3 it says "he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews..." (vs 6).

The picture I see here is that of Lucifer. Jesus would not bow down and worship him. Lucifer hated Jesus so much, and the fact that God was sending a Rescuer through Jesus to wrest people from Lucifer's grasp, that He sought to kill not only Jesus, but all the people of Israel. You can see this also play out in Revelation 12.

The second picture I saw was that of Esther. She must tell the king of the plot to kill the Jews. To go into the king's presence uninvited was a death sentence. To save her people she offers her life. "...And if I perish, I perish," she says in 4:16.

To come into God's presence without being pure is also a death sentence. Jesus offered up his life to save us from the enemy of sin and death. He was pure and so when He died He could go into the Father's presence and pay our way in debt free.

Pastor Tom

Plots of the Enemy, Part 2

Last time we talked about three main ways the enemy tries to draw us off task. He does this by lies, distractions, and fears. But at the end of Nehemiah we see some other devices of Satan.

In chapter 13 Nehemiah is bringing about reforms in a nation just returned from exile in Babylon. While rebuilding the wall, two non-Jews, Tobiah and Sanballat, had tried to thwart Nehemiah by intimidation and deception.

Nehemiah thinks he has overcome their attacks until he returns from Babylon to find that one of the priests has set up a special room in the temple for Tobiah. He rushes in and throws Tobiah's furniture out on the street. Later he finds out that Eliaship, one of the priests, had married Sanballat's daughter. "Therefore I chased him from me." (13:28).

Two of Satan's other devices against us believers are to attack through bad leadership and unwise connections. I'm not saying that you should look suspect at all the leaders in your church, but I am saying that there are in the church today those who do not know Jesus Christ and yet have positions of leadership. If you aren't careful, they can be an influence that does not encourage you to be true to the Lord. Read his Word and if a leader teaches something that is contrary, go with God's Word and watch out for that leader.

Secondly, Satan likes to draw us into bad relationships. Paul said "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." (2 Corinthians 6:14). Marrying into families outside of the covenant community was the problem that got Israel sent to Babylon in the first place because the marriages pulled the Jews towards idolatry.

We just need to be careful who we are connected with in marriage, in business, in close friendship. Now I'm not saying to cloister yourself away and talk to no one except Christians. But I am saying that if you have a business partner that does not know the Lord and they want to lie and cheat and steal--what are you going to do? You are a partner and can't force them to do or not do anything.

Yes, some of us are in marriages or situations where there is an unbeliever. In those situations be light and salt and an example. But if you have a choice, just be careful that you become so tied up with the world that you are dragged down with it.

Pastor Tom